Hindu Kush Auto | Balcony outdoor

[UPDATE]: thanks to @NPKAllTheWay and @The_420 for the help; after having understood how to count weeks for the plants (I told you, I'm a total newbie! :) ) I have now decided to create a new diary so that each plant has its own one. So, Fat Banana Auto is being tracked here: https://growdiaries.com/diaries/59617-royal-queen-seeds-fat-banana-automatic-grow-journal-by-cuchillo First time grower here: I have read many GrowDiaries in the past, and I'd first like to thank everyone sharing their pics and notes on this amazing website. I have used (and currently using) many of the diaries as reference for my first growing experience. I have also been doing a lot of research online to know what to expect next, hoping no major problems will show up- So, let's start: I bought two different strains in packs of 3 seeds, Fat Banana Auto (directly from RQS) and Hindu Kush Auto (this time from a local grow shop). Planted them in Jiffys, and after 4 days Fat Banana arose from the soil; Hindu Kush on the other hand had some problems, and the first seed did not popped. Planted then another seed ,and this time it worked -I think that the problem is linked to how the seeds were stored by the local grow shop, and they sold me some "too old" seeds.. However I planted Hindu not too deep and had to manually (with a pair of very fine and disinfected tweezers) remove the seed shell and the membrane. Anyway, they are now both in 9L vases (one each), and looking pretty good - at least, that's what I hope & think. The vases are filled with Biobizz Light Mix, which I watered with approx 1.5L and let "work their magic" for at least 24hrs before planting the seedlings. Only using tap water now (here it comes out at approx 7.3pH), which I boiled for 20 mins and let sit for at least 30 hrs. From what I gathered, Light Mix adjusts the pH "automagically" if it's slightly above or below the desired 6.5. Temperatures here are good: 20/25° C during the day, with plenty of (direct) sunlight - approx 8/10hrs a day. During the night temperatures drop to 15°C, and I bring the plants inside my apartment. Days are quite windy and refreshing, and - as far as I understood - it's a great thing that allows the plants to grow even better. I haven't checked for humidity, but these days have been quite dry - compared to what is going to come in the next months. A couple more details: Hindu Kush popped up in 5 days, and has been in the vase for 2 days. One of the cotyledon looks a bit weird - remember, I had to manually remove the membrane holding the cotyledons - but judging from guides I found online, it's nothing to worry about. Fingers crossed, and see you next week :)

Start of week 2, everything looks fine, and the plant seems to be "recovering" from the initial problem of one cotyledon being a bit "weird". [UPDATE day 14]: it's the end of the week, and yesterday - while bringing her back indoor for the night - I noticed it has started to have a very (very!) weak smell. My other plant (Fat Banana Auto, in her 3rd week, doesn't smell at all). Well, I hope this is a good sign! 😊 The plant looks amazing to me, even though I'm starting to fear it's not growing much (at least, judging from other people's diaries on this strand). Fingers crossed! And see you in the 3rd week 😎

Beginning of week 3, the plant looks healthy and the smell is weak but amazing! :) I might start with some nutes in the next few days, but first I'll wait for the pH and TDS meters (thanks @Growlecule for the suggestion), so that I can have a better understanding of what's going on - and will be able to provide more info in my diaries. [UPDATE day 16]: just a quick update as I received today the TDS/ppm meter. Did some fiddling around with the tap water I have been using, and the ppm seems to be incorrect (too low). Will do some more testing - newbie here, so I need some time to understand the whole ppm thing- and report back to the diary once I have the ppm-thing set up. [UPDATE day 17]: gave her her first nutes, and have used the recently bought pH and TDS/ppm/EC meters as follows. I have used plain tap water (pH: 7.6; ppm: 280) and added (filtered) lemon juice to bring the pH to 6.48. Then added 1ml of Canna Vega, resulting in a ppm of 377. Gave 1L to the plant, and measured the run-off, which reads as follows: pH 5.55; ppm 862; EC 1724 micro-s/cm. I'm still unsure as to how I should fill the diary details: should I insert pH and ppm from the run-off, or from the water before I gave it to the plant? I'll find out :) [UPDATE day 21]: She looks good, but seems her growing is slower than my other plant (Fat Banana Auto). Not much else, and it's almost beginning of week 4! I'll keep you updated

Day 22, first day of the 4th week: she looks healthy (maybe a bit smaller than what my other plant - Fat Banana Auto - looked when she was her "age") and haven't fed her since day 17. Not much else to add, fingers crossed! :) [UPDATE day 24]: not much to say: weather has been fairly crappy, mostly covered and she hasn't been growing that much. I might give her some feeding later today (water + some nutes). [UPDATE day 25]: fed her yesterday with 1lt of water + 1ml of Canna Terra Vega | pH: 6.9; ppm: 381; EC 772 µs/cm. The run-off read as follows: pH: 5.6; ppm: 964; EC 2,006 µs/cm. From the suggestions gathered from other users (special thanks to @growlecule), the soil I'm using (Biobizz Light Mix) still contains a good dosage of nutes (which should have only lasted for 2/3 weeks), probably because I haven't watered the plant that much. This was her 6th watering, and the 2rd one with 1lt (the previous ones were approx 200ml each); so I suppose that many of the nutes originally in the soil haven't yet been washed away. She looks fine and happy (see pics from day 25, 1 day after the last feeding), so fingers crossed :) [UPDATE day 28]: last day of this 4th week, she has grown even though the weather has been quite miserable, but today the sun's back. She's showing some signs of preflowering. Fingers crossed as usual, and see you in week 5!

Week 5 has started, and she looks like she's enjoying her new LST! The plant is not as "leafy" as others I have seen in other diaries, but I'm happy as she looks healthy. A couple of pistils are showing up, but not much else, so see you for the next update :) [UPDATE day 32]: on day 31, right after the start of the week, she apparently switched - or is about to - full bloom, and started showing (like my other plants) some spots on the lower leaves. I suppose it's magnesium deficiency, and I have already opened a question about this in my other plant's diary. Once I get some more info I'll update the plant's status. As for the rest, she looks like she's still stretching. [UPDATE day 35]: last day of week 5, and looks like she's about to bloom. Found out - through a visit to my local grow shop - that those tiny spots are signs of thrips! 😵 Bought some "Protect Killer" (80% Neem oil, 20% Citric Acid) and applied thoroughly on this and the other plant. Tomorrow they're staying indoor, in front of the window, protected by the mosquito net. The plant looks clean now, but I'd rather have them inside for 3/4 days and check that no more thrips lay their lurid eggs than have them outside sunbathing with those thrips going around. Today it was also feeding day, and have started using some CalMag. Fingers crossed, even though I'm a bit scared by the infestation 😣

Day 40, and thrips are still thriving 😩 Applied Protect Killer (80% Neem oil, 20% Citric acid) twice, very thoroughly, and have kept all the plants indoor - on the windowsill, with the mosquito net - for the past 5 days, and obviously they haven't been getting a proper sunbath. While I guess that no new eggs have been laid during the past 5 days, there still are tiny little thrip-bugs on all the plants (this one in particular); I have also removed some leaves - a few of which had clear signs of eggs - but I'm honestly getting quite desperate. My local growshop has suggested using Mighty Wash, which I should get tomorrow. Leaving aside all concerns regarding the buds' taste - I have read that using Neem oil on flowers almost certainly leaves a bad taste - these thrips are driving me crazy, and have thought more than once of dumping all of my plants. If anyone has any suggestion on how to save my plants - and therefore my future crop -, it'd be more than welcome.

End of week 7; thrips seems to be gone (even though they have left quite a few scars on the leaves), but overall the flowering process seems to be going well and she smells amazing!!! Weather has been fairly miserable, with only a few days of full sun, which however made her even more "hairy" and sticky. I'll feed her either today or tomorrow with some extra flowering-nutes, hoping the flowers get bigger and ready to be harvested. Can't wait :)

Just like my other plant: new week, and some feeding (after 11 days where, due to miserable weather, the soil was always a bit moist). Going great, amazing smell, now it should only start to develop some bigger buds - fingers crossed! :)